Acesse minha fanpage no Facebook para ver o vídeo. Você não precisa estar cadastrada no Face para ver, mas se estiver, curta a página e comente as postagens lá, será um grande prazer ver você lá também! :)Visit my fanpage on Facebook to see the video. As it's a public page, you don't even need to have an account on Facebook to watch it. But if you do, 'like' my page and comment the post there, it'll be a huge pleasure to see you there too! :)

OBS: Não vou colocar novos vídeos aqui porque o Google automaticamente carrega para o YouTube que agora está forçando a gente a migrar para o Google+. Em protesto, estou boicotando! Nem vão sentir a diferença, pois não posto tantos vídeos assim... Mas pelo menos não estou dando corda para a imposição deles... :) Em geral adoro os produtos do Google. Não são de graça, é nossa audiência e uso que eles vendem aos anunciantes. Mas essa imposição passou dos limites! :(OBS: I won't have new videos here anymore because Google automatically uploads them to YouTube - which now is imposing on us to accept Google+ to use it or even to comment on or like/dislike the videos there. As a protest I'm boycotting YouTube! Of course it won't make any difference to them as I don't have that many videos there... But at least they won't think I support their tyrannic ways... :) I love Google in general. None of their "free" products are actually for free: WE are the merchandise they're offering to the ads publishers. But with that imposition on us, they crossed the line! :(

segunda-feira, 25 de novembro de 2013

Conforme prometido, vou mostrar como fazer janelas simples. Você pode colocar dobradiças para que abram e fechem ou pode colar na moldura (batente), de modo que fiquem sempre na mesma posição. Vou ensinar com dobradiça. Se não quiser, é só colar direto na abertura, já com a moldura. As I promised, I'm showing now how to make simple windows. You can hinge them so that they can open & close or you can glue them to the frame (casement) and have them fixed in the same position. I'll show you how I made the hinges. If you don't want them, just skip those steps.

You are going to need:* an acetate (transparent plastic, or plexiglas) sheet. You can buy them from miniature suppliers, stationary stores or craft stores. Or you can repurpose those that come with other stuff you buy, like scissors, etc. I do that often.* craft or x-acto knife* scissors (optional)* tweezers* ruler* tacky glue* super glue (gel)* 1/4" and 1/8" strips of 1/16" thick wood. Or use cardboard/cardstock paper, either pre-colored or painted as wood.* 3/16" thick wood, for the window frame inside opening on wall. * 1 inch of golden wire. I used some leftover scraps of earring pins I had. In a previous project I only needed the flat head, and I kept the remaining part. Useful! :)* 4 small seed beads (~1/8")* color cardstock or any other colored paper in a similar shade as the wood used, or painted paper.* tyvek sheet. I once got from a friend in the US a USPS Priority envelope. It's made of tyvek. One envelope goes a looooong way!Como fazer:How-to:

1) Corte um pedaço de acetato um pouco maior que o espaço da janela. Instale a moldura (batente), cortando tiras da madeira de 5mm de espessura um pouco mais largas do que a largura da "parede". A largura e o comprimento exatos vão depender da abertura para a janela que você tiver ai! Pinte na cor desejada e cole no lugar deste modo:1) Cut a piece of the acetate sheet a little larger than the open space you have for the window. Install the frame (casement) on the wall by cutting strips from the 1/4" thick wood, larger than the wall thickness. The exact width and length will depend on your window opening and the wall thickness. Paint/stain them as desired and glue them in place like this:

2) Depois que a cola secar, use a abertura como referência e corte o acetato na medida exata da abertura.2) After the glue dries, use that open space as reference and cut the acetate to fit inside it.

7) Quando estiver seco, aplique cola no acetato do outro lado e use as tiras de papel, que deve ter o mesmo tom da madeira. Você pode usar madeira deste lado também. Como eu não tinha madeira no mesmo tom do usado no kit original, e só veio madeira para um lado da janela, eu usei papel no kit original para não deixar o lado externo da janela só no acetato. Por coerência, fiz a mesma coisa na minha janela: madeira de um lado e papel do outro. Você pode usar papel/cartolina, madeira, etc nos dois lados, se preferir. Faça cada lado por vez, aproveitando a própria moldura formada para corter as tiras no tamanho certo: (corte só as travas superior e inferior, não cubra uma das laterais ainda!!!)7) When the glue is completely dry, apply some glue on the acetate behind the wood frame on the other side and use the color(ed) paper strips (same width as the wood). You can use wood on this side as well. As the original kit only supplies wood for one side and I didn't have any that would match, I used paper for the kit and repeated the process here to keep coherence. You can use wood, cardboard, matboard, bristol board, cardstock, etc to make the frame. Your choice. For the back, you can use the window itself as reference to cut the strips the correct size: glue the strip aligned to one end then use the wood frame as reference to cut the strip correctly. Leave one side uncovered for now!!!

10) Cubra com a tira de papel que falta:10) Cover that side with the remaining strip of paper:

11) Posicione as tiras finas de madeira para formar os painéis da janela. Não cole ainda, é só para espaçar e marcar lugar. 11) Position the thin (1/8") strips of wood in place so as to form the window 'panes'. Don't glue them in place yet. Just make sure they fit in.

12) Cole primeiro as tiras horizontais, usando as verticais como marcador. Deixe secar bem a cola antes de colar as outras tiras:12) Now glue the horizontal strips first, using the vertical ones as spacer. Let the glue dry completely before you glue the other ones:

13) Se preferir, corte uma longa tira vertical e 6 tiras menores para as horizontais. Foi assim que fiz no verso, com o papel:13) If you prefer, just cut a long vertical strip and 6 smaller ones for the horizontal dividers. That's how I made it on the back side, using paper strips:

15) Usando um pedaço de madeira, lateral de borracha, ou qualquer material de bordas retas e 7mm de lado que tiver por perto, dobre os arames formando as alças:15) Using some strip of wood, the side of an eraser, or any other straight material you have avaliable with a width of 5/16", and use it to bend the wires to form the handles:

16) Prenda as contas em uma superfície usando um dupla-face, use a alça de metal já dobrada como referência para o espaçamento entre as contas: 16) Stick the beads to the painting surface using double-faced tape, and use the handle you just made as reference as to how far apart you should place them:

Antes de instalar a janela no lugar, faça um "teste a seco". Se estiver grande e com dificuldade de abrir-fechar (manualmente), lixe as laterais onde estiver "pegando" até ficar certo.Before you install the window in place, dry fit them. If the sides are too large and it's hard to open/close them manually, sand the sides until it's ok.18) Ponha um pingo de super-cola e um de cola branca em um pedaço de papel (descartável). Pegue cada puxador com uma pinça, passe cada conta na cola branca, remova o excesso, passe na super-cola, remova o excesso. E cole no devido lugar na janela.18) Place a tiny puddle of super glue and one of tacky glue on a spare piece of paper. Hold each pull with tweezers, and touch each bead first on the tacky glue and then on the super glue, removing the excess on the paper right after. Then glue them in place.

19) Mantendo as dobradiças já dobradas no lugar, use um palito para aplicar cola do mesmo jeito: um pinguinho de cola branca e um pinguinho de super-cola em cada dobradiça. Posicione no lugar e segure firme por alguns instantes. Atenção: evite usar cola demais para não colar tudo que assim a dobradiça não funcionará, e também tem que ser rápido senão a cola seca antes da hora e ter a mão firme, senão espalha cola por toda a moldura, menos onde deve!19) Keeping the hinges already folded in place, use the tip of a toothpick to apply both glues on them: a tiny little bit of tacky then a tiny little bit of super glue on both hinges. Position the window in place and hold firmly for a few seconds. Important: make sure you don't apply too much glue. That might lead to having glue in the wrong places and your hinges won't work, or the whole window will be stuck to one position (glued down)!

20) Pronto! Aí está sua janela que abre e fecha! Se não quiser usar a dobradiça, é só colar cada lado da janela no lugar, deixando meio entreaberto.20) Voilá! Now you have a window that opens and closes! If you don't want to use the hinge, just glue each side of the window in place, leaving it slightly opened.

sexta-feira, 15 de novembro de 2013

E finalmente o primeiro dos dois tutoriais prometidos... Como instalar uma lâmpada funcional no seu ambiente! Funciona do mesmo jeito para mais lâmpadas também. Só procure se informar sobre a voltagem e amperagem necessária para iluminar a quantidade de lâmpadas que tiver em mente. O próprio vendedor la loja onde comprar o material poderá informar isso...And finally the first of the two tutorials I promised... How to install a working lamp in your setting! It works just the same if you need more than one lamp too. Just try to get all the information about voltage and amperage needed to keep the amount of lamps you have in mind. The salesperson of the store you buy the material should be able to provide you with that info.

1 foot of network wire, the kind we use to get internet access on our computers. Inside there are 4 pairs of thinner wires, great for miniature. Another option are "flat cables", used inside computers to connect its parts.

Soldering Iron. Oh, yeah. There is soldering involved... The ideal is to used one with a "lower" temperature, or you might burn the LEDs (ask me how I know...). I used a 25W one, and this one will reach 1003ºF, which is only relatively "low"... So, be careful!.

Solder. A 60/40 rosin core, for electronics, is best.

Heat shrink tube. Used to protect and isolate the joints. It shrinks to fit the space when heated with a heat gun, the soldering iron (just keep it close, don't touch) or - not recommended - a lighter.

A battery holder for 2 AAA batteries. As I'm using a 3V LED, and as each AAA battery supplies 1,5V, 2 are needed... If you use any other kind of lamp or LED, make sure you match the batteries to supply what the lamp/LED needs.

I used a miniature globe. But you could also use a bead with a large hole or any other Trash to Treasure item. What is important is that it should never touch the LED. Make sure there's enough room inside!

And I also used a metal ring, which I painted black.

Two AAA batteries, naturally... :)

A 3V LED. Make sure you get the "warm white", or else you'll end up with a very bluish and artificial shade of white. The best cheap source of LEDs are Christmas lights. Those are inexpensive and usually won't last long as a set, but you can use the individual LEDs for your miniature projects. As Christmas is getting closer, it's time to stock up!...

A teeny-tiny switch. Those are called "SPDT Sub-Mini Slide Switch", I think. The ones from Evan's Design are better, believe me! :)

Reverse tweezers to hold wires in place while soldering. Or you could use a 'third hand' pictured above, which comes with two clips to hold the wires, a magnifier, and usually also a place to rest the soldering iron. I have one, I use it and I recommend!

Another optional 'tool' is an acid-free flux, liquid or paste. Not essential, though.

Preparação: O papel de parede ou outro acabamento na parte interna da parede já deve ter sido aplicado. Faça um furo para passar o fio. Do lado externo, faça um "canal" por onde passará o fio até o lugar onde será instalada a bateria. No meu caso, trabalhei em papel-pluma. É fácil escavar o "canal", com estilete e régua, basta inclinar o estilete um pouco formando um ângulo, e cortar em cada lado do "canal", formando um "V". Depois o canal pode ser aprofundado com um boleador, se preciso. Se for trabalhar em MDF, é preciso usar uma dremel ou uma lima redonda.Preparation: apply the wallpaper or painting to the wall that goes inside the setting. Drill a hole for the wires. On the outside, make a groove to place the wires, leading to the floor/base, were the battery will be installed. In my case, I used foamboard, so it was very easy to carve the groove. Just use a craft knife tilted in an angle. Then do the other side to carve a "V" shaped groove. You can make it deeper and round it up later using a ball-tip embossing tool. If you are working on wood or MDF, you'll have to use a dremel or a round needle file.

Obtendo o fio: Se você abrir a ponta da capa do fio do cabo de rede, verá que dentro dele há 4 pares de fios finos. Abra um pouco mais a capa do cabo, escolha um par de fios: um vem numa cor sólida e o outro é branco com uma linha da mesma cor, verde no meu caso. Puxe o par com um alicate, com jeitinho.How to extract the wire: if you open the tip of the network cable insulation, you'll see that there are 8 intertwined smaller round wires. Open that insulation cover a littel more, pick the pair you want: one comes in a solid color and its pair is white with a line of matching color. I chose the green pair. Pick the pair with pliers and gently but firmly pull/slide it out.

Separe as pontas e remova um pedaço da capa isolante de cada fio. O jeito mais fácil de fazer isso é com o próprio ferro de soldar, como na foto, porque o fio é muito fino para cortar de outro jeito. Corte um pedaço do isolante termo retrátil para cada ponta (tubo preto na foto).Unwind/Pull the tips apart and remove 1/4" of the insulation from each tip. The easiest way to do this is using the soldering iron, like in the picture. That's because the wire is too thin to use a regular stripping tool, and a craft knife will probably cut the wire inside as well. Cut two pieces of the shrinking tube (about 1 inch) and place on each wire (it's the black thing in the picture)

Enrole cada fio com cada ponta do LED como na foto: uma em cada "perna". Ainda não é preciso soldar. Por enquanto só estamos testando se o LED funciona, se os fios estão íntegros, se o suporte de pilhas não tem defeito e se as pilhas estão boas. Encoste as outras pontas do fio torcido, uma na ponta de cada fio que sai do suporte de pilhas. Não deixe os fios de cada lado encostar no outro, senão dá curto. Na foto prendi com fita para poder tirar foto. Na verdade faço o teste só segurando uma ponta em cada mão e encostando cada uma em cada fio que vem do suporte de pilhas, bem separados um do outro. Às vezes importa qual fio encosta em qual. No meu caso não importou. Se o LED acender, está tudo bem! :) Se não acender, inverta os fios, verifique se os fios estão realmente em contato e mude cada um dos elementos por vez (pilha, fios, LED, suporte) até achar o que está errado. A cada etapa de soldagem, teste novamente! (e remova as pilhas em seguida ao teste e antes de soldar!).Twist each tip around each terminal wire of the LED, like in the picture. Nothing has been soldered yet. For now, that's just for testing everything: if the LED works, if the wires are intact inside, if the battery holder is working properly. If the LED has a positive and a negative distinction (mine didn't), make sure you have the right end connected to the battery wires and remember the color wire used. Do not allow red & black or each leg of the LED touch, or you'll short-circuit and damage the whole thing. I taped things down just to be able to take the picture. Usually I just hold the wires one in each hand and touch each tip on each wire that comes from the battery holder for testing. If the lamp doesn't light up, test each item at a time: change the wires sides, change the whole wire, change the battery support, change the batteries, change the LED. From now on, after each soldering step, test again to make sure it's still working! (and remove the batteries right after testing, before soldering!)

If everything is working properly, it's time to start the soldering job. I am NOT a specialist in soldering! I still make mistakes, but I get things working... :) I cannot solder and take pictures at the same time, so I'll list below some very informative videos on soldering, with relevant tips. The main tips are:

Use something to protect the table surface. I use a scrap piece of corrugated cardboard, that I can just throw away after I'm done.

Keep the tip of the soldering iron clean, removing old solder. For that usually a brass mesh is used and then we touch the hot tip on a wet sponge. The thermal shock will remove the residue.

Work in a ventilated room. Literally: turn a fan on. The smoke that comes from the solder contains lead and flux, and both are very toxic. Do not breathe that!

Never melt the solder on the top of the iron to then transfer it to the wire. The right way to do things is to touch the wires with the hot tip until they're hot too (1 or 2 seconds) and then apply the solder to the wires (another 2 to 3 seconds)!

Work fast (that's why I cannot take pictures!) The ideal is no longer than 2 to 3 seconds...

Do not move the wires (or shake your hands, the table, etc) until the solder cools off/hardens, or it'll be ruined. It might work for a while but you might have problems a month later...

Marque o lugar por onde o fio passará da parede para ficar embaixo do "piso", que também já deverá ter seu acabamento finalizado. Mark the spot where the iron will go from the end of the wall through the "floor", which also needs to be already finished.

Dobre e encaixe no canal. Eu uso até um pouco de cola (usei uma chamada "silicone líquido", que não é silicone, hehe) para manter o fio no lugar. Bend and fit the wires into the groove. I even use a bit of glue (I used one called "liquid silicone", but it's not silicone, lol) to keep the wire in place.

"Instale" a luminária. No meu caso, colei o aro pintado e depois o globo. "Install" the light fixture. In my case, I just glued the painted metal ring on the wall and on top of that, the plastic globe.

Passe o fio pelo piso e instale a parede no lugar (no meu caso, bastou colar).Take the wire through the floor and glue the wall in place (in my case, glue was enough).

Now it's time to solder the switch and the wires that come from the battery holder:

one wire that comes from the LED should be connected to one of the wires that come from the battery holder. You must have already decided which one when you tested in the beginning. In my case it didn't matter (no positive or negative "legs" in my LED), so I picked the white one from the LED and the red one from the battery support. Solder them together.

The other wire from the LED (in my case, the solid green) must go to one terminal

The other wire from the battery holder (in my case, the black one) must go to the last tip of the switch (or the other one, if yours only has two)

IMPORTANT: REMOVE the batteries before soldering! Or else you might cause a short circuit and you'll over heat the batteries and wear them out. Ask me how I know... :)